Emmy Catch-Up: Squid Game

Squid Game: Season 1, Episode 2 “Hell” (B+)

I’ll admit that this is a show I probably should have caught up on a while ago, but after watching the first episode, I wasn’t terribly intrigued despite the insane popularity it had. Now that it’s gone and won many awards and is now a major Emmy player, I felt the time was right to finally dive in. What I didn’t expect about this second installment is that it would take place entirely outside of the games, with a third rule in the contract cited so that everyone could take a vote to determine if the games would indeed continue. Showing the prize money in the giant piggy bank in very dramatic fashion surely swayed many of the people, particularly because they were all targeted for specific reasons, but it was Oh’s vote that ultimately made the difference. Kang once again demonstrated her cleverness and resilience when she had Seong untie her first and she tried to leave him there, choosing briefly to trust that he would keep the vow he had just made not to demand his money back. No one seems to be doing particularly well on the outside, and even though Oh has the best attitude, even he admitted that there’s much more to live for in the life-or-death environment of the games. The police didn’t respond well to what they thought was a prank from Seong, but Hwang has his own reasons for finding the truth which should lead to interesting places and highly precarious situations.